Valentine
by Triscribe
Summary: One of my Futureverse tales, set in the same timeline as The Future Not Remembered. The West twins need to be babysat on the evening of the 14th, and their big cousin Lian volunteers, thinking she has nothing better to do. A visitor changes her mind later, though...


"Three... Two... One... Go!" The pair of blurs moving at superspeed ran from the hallway into the kitchen, the first one barely pulled back in time by the second from crashing into the far wall. Both turned their eyes to the living room, where it seemed that their baby-sitter for the night hadn't noticed the two hurry by.

Grinning, Irey West turned and gave her twin brother Jay the thumbs up. Together, the two silently picked up and moved one of the chairs away from the kitchen table and to the counter. Then, level by level they climbed upwards, until Jay crouched by the sink, bracing himself on all fours as Irey stood upon his bent-over back.

"Be careful!" He hissed, trying to provide as steady a platform as possible. Irey resisted shooting back that she was doing so, as well as she could, and instead strained to reach the elusive cookie jar tucked at the furthest edge of the top cupboard.

"I've almost-" A red arrow sank into the wall a mere few inches from her outstretched hand, and with a yelp Irey slipped backwards, sending both herself and her brother crashing off of the counter.

From their new vantage point of laying sprawled on the floor, the twins were in perfect position to stare as the black combat boots sauntered over.

"Y'know..." Lian Harper drawled, folding up her collapsible bow and smirking down at them. "If you two wanted a cookie, you could have just asked."

"But that's no fun!" The nine year olds whined in unison. Their teenage babysitter just chuckled, reaching down and helping the pair of speedsters back to their feet. Her aunt and uncle were always reluctant to ask Lian if she'd watch the twins for an evening, never wanting to cause her to resent it as a chore, but there genuinely wasn't much the teen liked doing more. If fact, she'd been the one to call them up that morning, asking if the adults wanted to head out for a night to themselves.

It being Valentine's Day, and all.

Uncle Wally had agreed almost immediately, but Aunt Artemis took more than a little convincing. Not until Lian admitted that she'd had a falling out with her boyfriend and wanted to spend the night somewhere she couldn't see pink hearts did the woman accept.

The crooks on the street would definitely be annoyed - a pair of married heroes out on a romantic patrol was certainly worse than one depressed teenager kicking their butts.

"Mom's gonna be mad at you." Jay stated matter of factly as Lian got down the cookie jar and fished out an oreo for each twin (just one apiece - she'd dealt with enough speedster sugar highs to firmly destroy any desire to face another). The teen frowned in confusion until the kid pointed at the hole her arrow had left in the wall.

"Oh. Little Jay, I think your mom puts more holes in these walls in a week that I could in a year, not to mention all the dings and dents from you two over-balancing when you try to stop running. One more puncture won't kill her."

After the twins finished their dessert, she herded them back upstairs where the two were supposed to be getting ready for bed. Sticking around this time to make sure they actually brushed their teeth, Lian had just gotten the pair into their bunk bed when the doorbell rang downstairs. She pointedly instructed the kids to stay put or there'd be more arrow holes in their bedroom walls, then hurried to the front door.

Opening it to cool night air, Lian frowned at the lack of a person on the front porch. Cautiously taking a step out in order to scan the street, her foot landed on something crinkly. Lian glanced down, and took in a sharp breath at what she saw.

A bouquet of red tulips.

There were only three people in the world who knew what her favorite flower was, and two of them were currently on monitor duty aboard the Watchtower. Bending over, Lian plucked out the small card nestled amidst the flowers. A single word was hastily written on it:

 _Sorry_.

The teen archer smiled, picking up the tulips and giving them a delicate sniff. "Get over here, you moron." She said to the open air. A moment later, the slim figure of her boyfriend dropped down from the roof, an apologetic expression of his face. Before the dark-haired teen had a chance to say a word, Lian stepped forward, grabbed the front of his hoodie and pulled him in for a kiss.

Apologizing wasn't something Gotham Bats had a reputation for, so Lian was more than willing to forgive Damian after this simple Valentine's gift.


End file.
